It was a small stroke of fortune that we reached Aelayah’s guards without further incident. We found them lounging around, but fully armored for battle. A few sharp commands from Farzan snapped them into order. I took a heavy axe, its curved blade engraved with faint runes of power, from one of their number. I had earned enough of their respect and fear that he did not dare voice any complaint.

  The guards formed an escort around us as we exited the arena, shoving back the crowd when they ignored warnings to stay clear. Kidu’s face was tight with restrained violence, and I could almost feel the heat of his simmering temper. I would soon need to explain myself and the situation I found myself in.

  Larynda had seated herself beside Lady Aelayah, who was seated atop her palanquin. With narrowed, watchful eyes the half-elf kept a guard over the leader of the Salahaem. Though she now traveled in the luxury that befitted her station, the soft, velvety cushions did little to ease Aelayah's worry, visible in her eyes. Still, reunited with her men, some of her commanding presence had returned. She issued orders from the palanquin as if it were a queen’s throne.

  We pressed on through the streets, forcing our way through the surging masses—people teeming like vermin freshly flushed from the sewers. I wondered why neither the Council nor the Alim had sent forces to stop us or to end the Holder princess' life.

  Then I saw them, a small group of ratlike Beastkin, armed with crude, rusty weapons and wearing filthy rags that stank of the fetid sewers. Most disgusting of all were their sinuous tails that wove behind them as they moved. They were attacking a unit of City Guards. Why, I did not know, but I had long learned that Beastkin needed little reason to unleash violence on innocents. Panic spread through the crowd, and the civilians broke into a stampede. Aelayah’s honor guard quickly formed a shield wall to block the surging mass.

  After the press had fled, I realized that this had worked to our advantage. The cleared streets provided us with a quicker path, and the rat-men, too absorbed in their fight with the guards, seemed not to even notice us.

  Our group carried on to the Mahdi Al-Maraquis, the Place of Dancing Water, and the seat of Power of House Salahaem. It took a particular type of bravery to attack a group of two score men, armed and armored as most of us were, especially with the giant Kidu at the fore. The large man positively loomed over the seemingly diminutive locals, like a man grown among children.

  It seemed that the rot of betrayal had not reached all levels of the City Guard, with most of them barely giving our group a second glance as we made our way back to the palace of the Salahaem.

  Still, pointless bravery in betrayal in the guise of honor-bound duty could be found. A small group of Council Guard, backed up by men and women of the Copper and Silver ranks of the Adventurer’s Guild stood in our path. Another piece of entertainment for me to savor.

  “By what right or law do you block my way?” demanded Lady Aelayah imperiously, peeking out from the palanquin.

  One of the Adventurers, a lanky foreigner with orange hair and freckled skin, seemed to take that as an opportunity to draw his bow and nock an arrow. He had doomed the men and women who accompanied him with that single action.

  Faster than a man could blink, a glint of swift metal found the man’s throat. Elwin the Rogue was as deadly as ever, his thrown knife a ruthless messenger. The man gurgled his last complaint as my companions and I fell upon them.

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  Aelayah’s honor guard, with all their fancy gear and arrogant posturing, did nothing. Like statues, they stood stock still, merely watching as I hacked through Council Guards and shocked Adventurers alike. I had already healed Elwin, and I told myself I needed to conserve my Mana—but truthfully, part of me just wanted the visceral satisfaction of smashing enemies with a weapon in hand.

  The lower ranks might as well have been straw-filled dolls, their movements sluggish, lacking any finesse. Kidu, his spear like a serpent, struck with death almost as swiftly as I did.

  With Knife, axe, spear, and spell, we brought about a veritable carnage.

  As I worked the spike of my axe through a Silver Ranker’s heavy coat-of-plates, a mace slammed into the meaty part of my arm, dealing around thirty points of damage. Foolishly, I had grown too accustomed to fighting unarmed foes and reflexively ignored the hit, as if I were wearing armor that would’ve deflected it.

  Fen would have chided me for such. I had become ‘Too sure in the current situation,’ as she liked to call it. Never use one weapon too much, never think that tomorrow will be as today, and never believe the lie that your opponent's next move will be like the last.

  Still, for being unarmored, it was far less damage than I’d expected. With an irritated grunt, I drove my axe deeper, ignoring the mace-wielder as I twisted the spike through a gap in the Silver Ranker’s armor until the sharp metal found flesh. Another forceful push, and the weapon pierced his heart, ending him.

  Dismissing the notification, I turned to the man with the mace with a feral grin, feinting a strike to the left. Predictably, he raised his shield. Hooking with the axe, I pulled his shield down, ready to finish him—only for Kidu’s spear to pierce through his open-faced helm, burying itself past the eye and into his brain, killing him instantly. The big man gave me a wild grin and a throaty laugh that was more suited to a beer hall than this slaughter.

  Half the experience.

  The maceman was the last to stand in our way, and with his fall, the sudden skirmish on the streets came to an abrupt end.

  “If you do not raise a blade to defend your Lady next time, I will cut you all down myself, you sniveling cowards,” I snarled at Aelayah’s honor guard. Their eyes flashed with indignation, but they held their tongues.

  “Gilgamesh,” Farzan growled, his usual affable demeanor gone. “Our duty is to protect Aelayah… we didn’t even know—”

  I tightened my grip on my axe. “Cowardice will ever find a thousand excuses. A group of armed men tried to block our path. Rat-men Beastkin are spreading chaos all around us. That’s more than enough reason to draw blades first and ask questions later.”

  “And now you’ve left none who can answer,” Aelayah snapped testily. I couldn’t help but give her a thin-lipped smile, remembering how she’d been squealing and squawking on my shoulder not too long ago.

  I decided to try diplomacy. “In the heat of battle, it’s quite different when you’re fighting to take a man alive. Forgive my lack of foresight, but for the sake of speed, I chose the faster solution.”

  “Then for the sake of expedience,” Aelayah replied sweetly, “if you could stop harassing my men, let’s continue on our way.”

  I gripped the handle of my heavy axe tighter, forcing a smile just as sweet as hers. In that moment, with my companions at my side, I briefly considered abandoning all current duties and position altogether. Were it not for the promise of future gain, I would have done.